Daily Archives: March 16, 2016
Pacific Halibut Season to Open Saturday at Noon
NMFS is providing notice of the immediate effect of regulations of the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC). The commercial IFQ halibut season opens Saturday, March 19, 2016. At its annual meeting in January, the IPHC recommended to the governments of Canada and the United States catch limits for 2016 totaling 29.89 million pounds, a 2.3 percent increase from last year. Alaska’s total halibut catch was set at 21.45 million pounds, up 235,000 pounds from 2015. For commercial and charter halibut fishers in Alaska, the following regulations are in effect: Read the rest here 20:12
NOAA proposing new regulations for turtle excluder devices from Texas to North Carolina
The federal government is considering new requirements and regulations for turtle excluder devices to reduce sea turtle bycatch in shrimp fisheries. The new requirements, which could potentially apply to all vessels from Texas to North Carolina in both state and federal waters, are meant to counteract an increasing number of small, juvenile sea turtles being encountered by inshore and nearshore fisheries. According to a document on the proposed changes, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will be floating four potential alternatives at public hearings in April aimed at reducing sea turtle mortality. Read the rest here 19:25
Maine Fishermen concerned about loss of disaster relief funding
The Maine Department of Marine Resources announced on March 1 that it will soon be issuing the third and final payment to Maine-homeported commercial groundfish permit holders under federal disaster relief funding which is being issued due to changes in fishing regulations and cutbacks in the industry. This is the third and final bin of money being allotted in Maine. Other New England states have also received federal relief funding in three separate dispersions, and although it is federal money, each state has individual discretion on how to allocate use of the funds. While some other states divided the money among permit holders and their crews, Maine chose a formula based criteria for fishermen in this category to qualify for relief funds. Read the rest here 16:07
Breaking: Eight arrested in drug raids on New Bedford fishing boats
Eight people were arrested on local fishing boats over the past two days in drug raids by national, state and local law enforcement, who seized heroin and opiates that fishermen were intending to use at sea, police said. “This is the second time we’ve done this, and it’s actually a continuing effort to tie (off) the flow of illegal drugs from getting to sea, aboard fishing vessels,” said Major Patrick Moran of the Massachusetts Environmental Police. “This operation, we had eight arrests,” he said. Moran said environmental police worked with the New Bedford Police Department’s marine unit and local officers from the Department of Homeland Security in the two-day operation. Read the rest here 15:44
Athearn Marine Agency Boat of the Week: 42′ Fiberglass Gillnetter/Lobster, Permits, John Deere 6068 Diesel
Specifications, information and 8 photo’s click here To see all the boats in this series, Click here 12:18
Salmon fishing season likely to be shorter in 2016
North Coast fishermen may have plenty of free time on their hands this summer if regulators adopt any of three proposed alternatives for this year’s commercial salmon seasons. With the outlook suggesting diminished abundance of two key Chinook salmon runs, fishery managers have structured a season with lots of gaps, especially in the Fort Bragg region, where the fishery would be all or mostly closed in June and completely shut down in July. North Coast Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, and other bay-delta representatives said the proposed cuts would reduce commercial fishing boats’ time on the water by at least 20 percent overall — and by up to 45 percent along a stretch of the North Coast from Point Arena to Horse Mountain, located north of Shelter Cove in Humboldt County. Read the rest here 11:22
Abundant returns, sustained yields testify that Alaska Board of Fisheries isn’t broken
Starting in 2014, and continuing into 2016, members of United Cook Inlet Drift Association (UCIDA), a commercial fishing organization, and two former employees of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game who have since became advocates for Cook Inlet commercial fisheries, have claimed the Alaska Board of Fisheries is broken and needs reform. These are serious accusations and should be examined to determine whether there is evidence to support them. Read the rest here 08:29
Department of Marine Resources emergency action on Scallop area closures
Maine commercial fishing regulators are working on a string of closures to scalloping grounds around the state as the season nears its end. A spokesman for the state Department of Marine Resources says the agency is working on an emergency action that would close areas such as the Inner Machias Rotational Area, Wahoa/Jonesport Reach and Gouldsboro Bay and Dyers Bay. A handful of other areas would also close. Casco Bay would close to draggers, but not divers. The spokesman says the closures will likely be effective by Sunday. Link 07:58
Should catch share management be indicted in the Carlos Seafood case? – David Goethel
According to accusations from Federal investigators, the seafood business run by Carlos Rafael “laundered” fish to evade quotas, sold fish for cash to evade taxes, and cheated captains and crews by paying them for lower-valued fish than what they landed. These are serious criminal accusations, but they also raise a disturbing question: Is the system known as “catch shares” at least in part responsible for what occurred? Catch shares are a system of managing fish where fishermen are given fixed quota for each species, which they can either catch or lease. Read the rest here 07:25
